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President Biden will welcome Israeli President Reuven Rivlin to the White House on Monday amid a shake-up in Knesset leadership that has given the Jewish state the first new prime minister in over a decade.
The meeting, set for the afternoon in the Oval Office, will largely serve as an opportunity for Biden to pay his respects to the outgoing president before the conclusion of his term next month.
For Rivlin, the meeting will serve as a chance to dissuade the US commander-in-chief from pursuing a return to the Iran nuclear deal, an Obama-Biden era policy strongly opposed by Israel.
It will also come three weeks after a seismic shift in Israeli politics: former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ouster from his role.
Netanyahu now leads the opposition, while Naftali Bennett has taken his old job.
Rivlin was invited to the White House last month by US Secretary of State Tony Blinken during his visit to Israel.
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The role of president is far less powerful in Israel than in the US. In the Middle Eastern state, the role of prime minister comes with considerably more authority.
Still, Rivlin’s position does carry some weight and allows him to act as a diplomat of sorts.
The White House said Sunday that Rivlin’s visit “will highlight the enduring partnership between the United States and Israel and the deep ties between our governments and our people.”
Rivlin landed on Sunday in New York, where he met with Jewish leaders before heading to DC, Haaretz reported Monday.
After his meeting with Biden, Rivlin will meet with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and a bipartisan group of lawmakers.
In all of his meetings, Rivlin will undoubtedly discuss the Iran deal and the current cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.
Israel came under attack by a barrage of rockets launched by Hamas from the Gaza Strip in early May, sending residents fleeing for shelter as air raid sirens blared across Israel’s cities.
Hamas claimed the attacks came in response to a clash between Israeli police and Palestinian worshipers at the al-Aqsa mosque at the close of Ramadan.
Hamas, an Islamic fundamentalist offshoot of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, took Gaza in the 2007 Palestinian civil war against the less-radical leadership of the Palestinian Authority.
Israel’s Iron Dome defense system intercepted many of the rockets, with the streaks of interceptor missiles lighting up the sky.
The spasm of violence produced some of the worst fighting between Israel and the terror group since their 2014 war.
A cease-fire was brokered just before the end of the month, and has held.
